Cafe-ing and Cusco

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We got to Cusco thinking we had the Inca Trek booked on the 17th March, therefore thought we’d have a nice long 5 days beforehand to chill and be in the same place for a while for a change! A few days in, when we actually read our documentation, turns out we weren’t actually booked in til the 19th so we had even more time to chill! So we spent a lovely week in Cusco and by the end it kind of felt like home!

It didn’t start off so well though, our first night and day being spent with Nath hunched over the toilet bowl every 10 minutes…a cruel case of food poisoning, apparently from a dodgy ham sandwhich he’d (crazily) accepted on the bus here. Ashleigh on the other hand had resisted and was fine. Anyway, by Day 2 we could venture out and explore.

I fell in love with this town last time I was here and my second time back was just as fantastic (Ash). The narrow cobblestone streets, the gorgeous main plaza and colonial churches, the feeling of being nestled so high up in the mountains, the traditional ladies who come in from nearby villages to sell at the market, dressed in their bright coloured woven clothes - it’s just a magical place! Unfortunately at the same time, it’s a hugely touristy place full of gringos and with that comes lots of street touts proclaiming to have a solution for absolutely anything you may need…taxi/restaurant/hostel/free drinks/pretty ladies…and they just don’t seem to accept the answer “no gracias”. This all got too much for Nath a few times and we had some lovely squabbles with them, one time having a screaming lady chasing after Nath.

When we weren't sightseeing, Ash was dragging Nath and anyone else, to Jacks Cafe. Run by an Aussie lady and frequented by many a gringo, as it caters to many of their homesick food cravings. Ash was determined to try every item on the menu. Valliently as she tried, we simply ean out of days.

We visited the Sacred Valley just outside of Cusco, seeing yet more Inca rains in spectacular mountain settings, some cute little villages, gorgeous farmlands and countryside, heaps of great markets (where the budget was blown) and got to watch how the ladies do their traditional weaving.

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Photos

Ollyantatambo
One of the pretty little towns in the Sacred Valley